Fast facts: Fashion

Source: The Center for Biological Diversity

• Fast fashion is an enormous, rapidly growing industry, with the number of new garments made per year nearly doubling over the past 20 years and global consumption of fashion increasing by 400%.

• The fast fashion industry is a significant contributor to the climate crisis, responsible for as much as 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

• Waste occurs at every stage of the garment manufacturing process, harming wildlife, degrading land, and polluting soil and water.

• Animal-based textiles such as wool are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, widespread habitat loss from deforestation and grassland conversion, and other harms to wildlife. In fast fashion, wool is commonly blended with fibers derived from fossil fuels and coated with chemicals, further increasing the environmental cost of production and disposal of these garments.